Audiobooks on Vinyl?

The resurgence of vinyl continues, as Hachette Audio, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, and Wax Audio Group has announced a new series of vinyl + digital audiobook titles in 2018. The range will include releases read by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jerry Garcia, Amanda Palmer and Steve Jones, among others. The series launches with David Foster Wallace’s This Is Water, which is available today (Feb. 27).

WTF? Seriously, why would anyone do this? No one is going to listen to an audiobook on vinyl. This is just capitalizing on the lets-buy-vinyl-so-we-can-flog-it-on-eBay-in-a-few-years boom.

Among such creative executions of Hachette and Wax’s audiobook-on-vinyl titles: Wallace’s This Is Water is available in two limited collector’s editions — 1,500 copies will feature a blue-and-white water-inspired design for online orders, while independent bookstores and music stores will get 500 copies on orange colored vinyl.

2 thoughts on “Audiobooks on Vinyl?”

The part of me that likes practicality says this is dumb. The part of me that likes to buy dumb shit wants to get their Hamilton audiobook on vinyl when it’s available.

Today if you buy physical media you’re just buying a souvenir anyway. You want the music on your phone or favorite media service. If you buy it on CD you’d have to rip it. If you buy it on vinyl hopefully it came with an MP3 download. But really you’re just buying something because you feel like it, and it’s fun. No one really needs the Twin Peaks soundtrack on cherry red vinyl but it looks cool so if people want to buy it, whatever.

The part of me that likes practicality says this is dumb. The part of me that likes to buy dumb shit wants to get their Hamilton audiobook on vinyl when it’s available.

Today if you buy physical media you’re just buying a souvenir anyway. You want the music on your phone or favorite media service. If you buy it on CD you’d have to rip it. If you buy it on vinyl hopefully it came with an MP3 download. But really you’re just buying something because you feel like it, and it’s fun. No one really needs the Twin Peaks soundtrack on cherry red vinyl but it looks cool so if people want to buy it, whatever.